I. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an adhesive tape construction for use in sealing insulation first during storage of the insulation and permanently upon installation of the insulation and, in particular to an adhesive tape construction which utilizes an adhesive material having an adhesive affinity only for similarly coated surfaces thereby preventing inadvertent adherence.
II. Description of the Prior Art
Conventionally, glues, heat, or solvent activatable adhesive films, or pressure sensitive adhesive films or tapes have been used to combine or join solid items. Generally, pre-applied pressure sensitive tapes have offered the greatest ease of handling and convenience although bond strength and the inherent problems associated with using adhesive materials which will adhere to anything they come into contact with has caused a continuous effort to improve the state of the art. This is particularly true in connection with adhesive tapes utilized to seal sections of insulation typically used in construction environments. Tapes, whether pressure sensitive or not, used in sealing the sections of insulation, such as the overlapping ends of a pipe insulation jacket cover, may come into contact with dust particles or other materials which reduces the adhesive properties of the tape resulting in failure of the necessary seal.
Such tape systems, whether pressure sensitive or not, are applied in two different ways. A double-faced coated tape is applied to one surface and thereafter brought into contact with the other surface to join the two. Another system commonly utilized is the two-tape bonding method wherein one strip of tape is applied to one surface and another strip of tape is applied to the opposing surface wherein the bond is effected by bringing the two tape surfaces together, each of which has additional adhesive protected by a release liner. In a variation of this method, a single release liner is disposed between the adhesive surfaces of each tape in order to join the surfaces during storage. However, because it is often necessary to separate at least one of the adhesive surfaces from the center release liner, this surface can be exposed to dust and debris prior to final bonding resulting in a poor seal. In addition, it is often difficult to obtain exact registration of the adhesive layer with the central release liner if final bonding is not necessary resulting in a poor final bond. This may cause the insulation jacket to freely open resulting in damage to the insulation.
Currently, both supported and unsupported pressure sensitive tapes are used in the insulation industry to join and seal the overlapping ends of the vapor-barrier cover of the pipe insulation jacket. However, these well-known tape constructions do not develop the desired instantaneous bond, cannot be applied at sub-freezing temperatures, rely on coated release liners to obtain a temporary bonding of the overlapping ends, and rely solely on pressure sensitive adhesive tapes.